Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of research to answer an unanswered question. In the stone fabrication industry this is particularly true. Weha is always looking for better ways to build products. As a result, we find ourselves asking stone professionals what features would improve their workflow. That's what we did some time back as we looked for the absolute best vacuum lifter. In this article we will share with you what came of this.

What Constitutes A Good Vacuum Lifter?

That was the question. Weha strives to provide the best tool for any given job for which they make a tool. So when stone fabricators make suggestions, Weha takes those suggestions to heart. When it comes to pneumatic lifters, one suggestion seemed to make a lot of sense. What was the suggestion?

One stone fabricator needed a lifter that would lift a lot of panels for a commercial job. Additionally, he needed lifters that would allow him to move a variety of sizes of stone. In his shop he moved full slabs, island pieces, and stones for other uses as well. What he really needed was a slab lifter that could lift a range of sizes of stone slabs. The challenge of lifting large stone slabs is that you have to have a strong suction and a number of contact points. However, if you are lifting a small stone panel, too many contact points makes the lifter cumbersome and not easily managed or operated. Our challenge was defined as: design a lifter that was versatile enough to do both. What was the result?

A Versatile Multifunctioning Vacuum Lifter

The challenge of making a versatile Venturi lifter for stone slabs was met; and then some. The result of this research was the A1500 Vacuum Lifter. This lifter is capable of being configured to be used for lifting large countertops as well as smaller pieces.

Configurable Pad Positions

As you can see from the following configurations, this vacuum lifter can be adjusted to give you multipad contact as well as being able to use only one pad on the lifter.

Vacuum Lifter for Stone Fabricators

With a variety of poisitions in which to set the pads for the A1500, you can adjust the lifter to numerous configurations. This allows you to lift various sizes and shapes of stone slabs.

So the question then is this: "What do fabricators think of the A1500?" In a conversation in the SFA forum, This lifter was mentioned by stone fabricator. The topic of the conversation was "WEHA vs Manzelli Vacuum Lifts". A number of fabricators chimed in to share what they used and preferred. As you can imagine there were a number of favorites mentioned in that discussion. One fabrication specialist shared that he had been using the A1500. You can read why he esteems the Weha A1500 to be a
great vacuum lifter for stone fabrication.